Black Sun Rising
by eiyria
Summary: A vampire AU. Renji meets Ichigo and begins to realize that everything is not as it seems. Without warning things begin to spin radically out of control -possibly war- and everything is turning out perfectly under Aizen's watchful eye.


Chapter 1:

"Ahhh!" Apache managed to duck the blade as it sliced soundlessly through the air above her head. Pressed tightly to the wall she shot out towards the legs of the attacker before her.

"Halibel-sama please look out!" It was Sun-Sun's voice that pierced through the blanket of silence.

The blade that had sliced above Apache's head began to fiddle in the stone until it could be pulled loose. The figure in front of her retracted his blade and shot his gaze over to the bronzy built woman casually leaning against the entrance's wall. A lonely finger twirled at a ribbon of hair that had fallen into her face. She looked at nothing in particular, probably bored.

The man turned to her, standing upright. "So you are Halibel?" His long red hair swaying softly against his shoulders.

The said woman looked at him indifferently. "That would be correct 'Hunter'."

The man chuckled. "Lucky break on my part."

The woman raised an eyebrow curiously.

The man continued to chuckle, unable to refrain due to the situational constructs. "Our organization has been looking for you for a while now. Personally, I remember hearing about you from my father right before he died. You're pretty famous, aren't you 'Vampire'?"

The woman said nothing, while exhibiting signs of loss of interest.

"Here is how this is going to go down." His tattooed eyebrows knitted together and his face grinned wildly. "I am going to eliminate your adjuncts, and then, after I've had my fun with them, I'll come after you!"

"I doubt you could pull such a stunt off."

"You talk high and mighty, but regardless of whether you are immortal or not, your three little girlfriends….They are all human. Aren't they?" With each word the grin that covered his face grew bit by bit. "Lets try it Vampire!"

"If battle is what you desire, then I fear for your sake, I must oblige."

"Remember my name, Abarai Renji!"

The two forces leaped at one another, prepared to tear out eachother's insides, prepared to kill, and prepared to win.

* * *

Mila Rose, Apache, and Sun-Sun watched unimpressed. The outcome had been just as they'd expected, only with a slightly different twist. The red-headed male, Renji, was enveloped in their master's arms. His body lacerated and limp. He had put up quite a fight to make Halibel reach such a state. The elder woman seemed to have met her match for the man was excellent with his sword. Not to mention, his sword seemed to have been blessed and made from silver, a substance poisonous to most vampires.

Apache had seen the look on her master's face and was immediately reminded of a past experience. The blood loss her master had suffered caused the woman to go practically mad with bloodlust. Quicker than the eye could see, her master had cut swiftly through the surprised man and had quickly pounced upon his falling body. The blond woman had sucked the man practically dry before lifting her dripping face from his neck.

"I haven't had a fight like that in a while. You have some spirit."

And without further ado she had drawn her nail across the thin layer of skin on her wrist, cutting it to make it bleed. She crouched over the man below her, whose eyes were practically glazed over, and cocked her dripping wrist to the man's mouth. She pressed down with such pressure to make their contact airtight, thus forcing the now suffocating dying man to drink from her wound.

"mmmhh"

Halibel's eyes widened slightly in surprise. He apparently had enough consciousness left in him to try and fight back. His hands fluttered softly in a meek attempt to ward off his captor. To no avail his body fell back on the ground unconscious.

Once sure the attacker was sedated Halibel rose to her feet and willed the cut in her wrist to close.

"Apache. Mila Rose. Sun-Sun."

All three ran to her side, knelt, and prepared to receive an order.

"Go to the safe house for tonight. I will take this man back with me for I have no intention in involving you in such a mess."

"But Halibel-sama, we exist for serving you!" The three answered shocked in unison.

"You heard him before!" She barked angrily, causing the three girls to pull back in surprise. "No matter how strong you are to me, you are still human! You are still as weak as a humans! I refuse to let you get hurt by other humans for helping me."

The three kept their heads bowed, knowing, yet hating, what their master was saying. They cringed, knowing deep down that it was true. And they thus returned to exhibit their previous demeanor of indifference, answering only with a simple, "Yes! Halibel-sama!"

* * *

Grimmjaw's quiet nap in the catacombs was interrupted by rhythmic pounding on Hachi's barrier. He stirred from his position, obviously greatly annoyed.

"Who the fuck is it?!" His dreary eyes focused and then widened in fear and surprise. "Halibel!...And who the fuck is that?!"

"Grimmjaw, tell Hachi to open up the barrier. I need to step through."

"Answer the question" The teal haired man grunted sarcastically.

The blond woman sighed, placing her unoccupied hand on her hip. "He attacked me, and was fairly, no, quite good. I lost control for a bit and changed him."

The teal haired man pulled back for a second. "Changing some random person. That's disgusting. Why the hell…wait. Did you say he 'attacked you'?"

The woman stared at him – an obvious yes-.

"You mean he's a hunter?!" Grimmjaw questioned angrily with a hint of fear in his voice. "What the hell is wrong with you Halibel? Bringing back, no, changing a human, and for that matter a hunter! Really now, just what the fuck were you thinking at the moment."

She sighed again, bored of the tiresome harassment. "That's precisely it. I wasn't thinking. For once I was too absorbed in the bloodlust." She spotted Hachi rounding a corner suddenly. She made a gesture and he opened up the barrier.

"You still haven't answered my question woman."

"Since when have I ever been inclined to tell information to someone of lower status?"

"Bitch."

She turned back. "You're lucky you're my only blood relative or you wouldn't be alive after a comment like that." And with a quick twirl of the neck she reared off in another direction.

* * *

Renji's tiered eyes fluttered in and out of consciousness. He was waking up from what felt like a long nap and an air of drowsiness still clung to him, forcing his eye lids closed every few minutes or so. After what felt like a few long and drawn out minutes he began to notice an orange object popping in and out of his range of vision. The color was too vibrant for his tiered eyes and the man was slowly able to focus, drawing his mind and body out from under the curtain of sleep.

The boy was fairly tall and well built for his age, but was clearly only fifteen or sixteen. Renji watched him as the boy put sheets on a small makeshift bed in the corner of the barren room. The orange-head finished by fluffing the single pillow and laying it into place, taking a step back to admire his handy work. Turning back to the room's entrance the boy was distracted from a feral grunt emitted from the newly awaken man.

"Oh!" The boy noted slightly startled by the figure. His tense facial features relaxed somewhat and he added, "You're awake now." A silence. "I was, just now…Making your bed. I figured it must get cold to lie against a stone frame." The boy, now curious, placed his hands in his pockets, sitting down on the newly made bed.

"Where am I?"

The boy seemed startled at the question. "Weren't you the one who came here? You should know of all people. The catacombs of Karakura town. Where else?" The brimming child leaned in, placing his hand on the man's forehead. "Are you even felling alright. I mean, hell, I would at least have some idea of where I'd bee—"

His voice was cut off as the elder male grabbed the younger one's wrist, pulling him to the ground. The agile man maneuvered around and pinned the child's hands behind his back, pushing the twisted arm upwards and causing pain to his captor.

"Wh—what the hell man?!"

"Answer me!" The man violently shook the boy. "Tell me the truth! There are no catacombs in Karakura town! Where am I?! Do not take me lightly, boy, I am a noteworthy opponent!"

"I'm not lying! A friend of my old-man brought you here! You fuck-wad! I was just trying to do something nice! Why the hell are you hurting me?!"

The man loosened his grip and pushed the boy forward. His body in shock. Was it possible he was rescued? Ridiculous?—Of course, but still, probable none the less.

"Sorry kid."

The boy struggled before him, trying to catch his breath. He prepared his body and turned around, ready to yell profanities at the man. However, upon first glance the orange-haired child could tell that he should hold his tongue.

"What is your name kid?" The man appeared to return to reality, looking up through his cascading red hair.

"hmm?!" The boy seemed shocked, but managed to stutter out an answer. "Ku. Kurosaki. Kurosaki Ichigo…Um… Nice to meet you…"

"Kurosaki Ichigo eh? That's a nice name."

"You're the first one to think that."

Suddenly, the boy's head shot up quickly and darted towards the entrance. Eyes fixated intently on the doorway.

"Hey! Ichigo! Is something the matter?"

A smile broke out over the child's face. "No. It's my old-man. He's come back and brought my two twin sisters from the neighboring district in the catacombs. I can't wait to ask Yuzu what it was like in the outside world! Plus I get to see them again."

Renji's tattooed eyebrow rose an inch in height. "You mean to say that you've never seen the outside world? Are you serious." His voice was riddled with disbelief.

Ichigo turned back surprised. "Of course. Urahara Kisuke says that it is dangerous in the outside world."

"Wow. You are serous…Wait." His eyes narrowed significantly. "Did you just say Urahara Kisuke. As in one of the strongest vampires, Urahara Kisuke?!"

"Of course."

Renji's mind made the connection. Catacombs, the strange woman, memories of the night before came rushing back. He was in a vampire's lair. And by the sound of it a large one. One the hunters hadn't found yet. They must have left him for dead in a room, but they had made a great mistake. He laughed at his unrivaled luck. It was this kid's lucky day. He had to be a human slave to the vampires, like the three from the night before, and today Abarai Renji was going to give him the chance of a life time. The man figured he could break the boy out, escape himself, and tell the hunters the location of the vampire base. The mere thought caused him to grin wildly.

He grabbed the boy's hand. "Ichigo. Today I am going to show you the outside world!"

The boy looked at him wide-eyed. "but. I know it would be so much fun, but. Isn't that dangerous?"

The red-head rose and pulled the child to his feet. "That's just a lie to keep you trapped down here! Now come on! Tell me the way out of here!"

"Oh." The boy swallowed. "Oh ok. Um…This way."

Renji was quite impressed. The boy who had been locked with vampires in a catacomb for his entire life could run really fast. Even for a hunter, Renji had trouble keeping up with the orange-head's speed.

Corner after corner were turned, until the elegantly crafted rooms began to give way to rugged circular arcs of the lengthy connecting tunnels.

"Catacombs are not that large." The red haired man barked, attempting to spark conversation.

"The entrance used to be a catacomb, but the actual entity is part of a network of museums that fell underground in a quake a long time ago. It is practically forgotten and some locations are destroyed as the modern world creates the tunnels, cisterns, and sewer systems."

"Ahh. That makes sense." Renji let out a sigh of relief. Now he knew the reason for the hidden lair. It was an old part of the city, no longer on any existing map. Suddenly the thought hit him…There were more lairs than one. Possibly hundreds over the entire area of Karakura town. At the mere thought he winced and mentally cursed.

Those damn vampires. No matter how many he killed they never seemed to die.

The child with bright hair stopped suddenly and looked upward. "This is it."

Renji managed to skid to a stop, smiling at the boy. He lifted the boy upwards until his fingers touched the lid of the man hole. Slowly the boy began to shift it up and outwards. With a great groan and shove the boy managed to throw the circular top off.

Ichigo let out a terrible scream. Surprised Renji lost his grip on the boy and his body crashed to the ground. "AAAAHHHHHH!"

Renji knelt down to examine the boy. "Ichigo! Tell me what happened! Is there something out there? Did they hurt you? Let me see it!"

As though the child could not hear his elder's voice, he continued to clutch at his face, his body rolling tightly into a ball, head tucked in to his chest. "Renji!" the boy whined clinging to his pant leg.

Feeling that the boy might need to be calmed to let him even look at him, the man took off his coat and wrapped it around the child. The boy's pained cries slowly dulled down to null and pained whimpers. It seemed so unlike him.

"Ichigo, come on, tell me what happened!" The man leaned over his youthful friend.

"I don't know. I opened the lid like you said, and then it burned."

"Did you see who did it?"

"What do you mean 'who did it'?" The boy whimpered as he crawled underneath the older man's coat back into darkness. "Not my head or face…" Renji could see his fearful eyes. "My whole body. It burned like every inch of me was on fire."

Renji stared dumbfounded as the child wrapped himself tighter within the man's coat among darkness.

"Get out of that light Renji! Maybe you're not hurt because you are older than me or something, but it might hurt you too. Get out of the light!" The boy pleaded continuously.

Renji remained dumbfounded. There could only be one explanation. How could he have been so dumb as to miss it. The boy had reacted to light. When he put his coat on the pain was numbed. This boy…It couldn't be…

A strange voice finished his thought. "A vampire."

Renji looked up startled. A man stood under the cover of darkness. Eyes shaded, yet looking pensively ahead, analyzing the situation. His overcoat whipped at its tail ends as he surveyed the situation.

Before the stunned Hunter could talk, the other started. "You'd think the name 'Kurosaki' would ring a warning bell in your head. You seem pretty ignorant for a hunter." Silence. "There were many warning signs. His name, his speed, and more obviously the fact that he was even in a lair of this magnitude." The man paused before continuing. "Kurosaki-san doesn't look like your normal vampire. He is sweet and kind, always putting others before him, holds no normal biases, is gentle, innocent, and child like. Perhaps. Perhaps the reason you didn't notice is because you didn't want to. To you, perhaps he seemed a little bit too human."

Renji stood still, hating the truth of the man's words. It didn't seem right. The boy who had helped him escape. The boy who had been so kind. The boy who had clung to him and looked out for his best interest while suffering so greatly. There was no way. No way this child could be a blood sucking monster of horror stories.

"Urahara Kisuke."

Faster than the eye could see the mysterious man appeared at the side of the child. "Kurosaki-san. Isshin-san is worried about you. What have you gotten yourself into this time."

The orange-haired vampire cracked a small and subtle smile. "Urahara-san…Don't go under that bright stuff. It will hurt you. Get Renji out of it too. I don't want him to get hurt….He…He was going to show me the outside world."

The orange head of hair dropped down into the man's coat sleeve, his body shivering with exhaustion. The man clad in green rose to meet the gaze of the Hunter whilst holding the boy tightly in his arms.

"You know Hunter, Kurosaki-san is a pureblood vampire and still so young even by human years. He has never once been outside. Never once tasted the blood life of another. Never once known the difference between predator and prey. Up until the point where you caused him to open that hatch, he had been practically living his life under the impression that he was just like other humans."

Renji didn't say anything.

"It is because of people like you that the war even broke out in the first place."

Renji's fists tightened and he found the strength to speak after his respite of silence. "Urahara Kisuke. A high level pureblood vampire. I really must be lucky to be able to kill two vampires in one day's time."

Urahara frowned at the comment, dissipating into the darkness of the tunnels with Ichigo's unconscious body; leaving behind only one Farwell statement:

"You really are quite coldblooded to the point where it is quite obvious that Kurosaki-san is more human than you are."

* * *

"Grimmjaw, why are you here at such an hour?" The blond woman with a bronze body stated bluntly.

"No need to get so moody around me. I just came to tell you something interesting."

"You obviously don't prioritize my best intentions, so why are you here."

"That man you feed on hurt Kurosaki's kid."

The woman looked up tuned on the conversation at hand. "And…?" When Grimmjaw said nothing, she continued, "Well is he alright?"

"I don't know. Urahara has him healing and resting at his place. You know you are going to have to take responsibility in some fashion. That kid practically had the power sucked right out of him."

"I'd assume so. He is after all a pureblood, and that was his first contact with sunlight. He'll get stronger from it I'm sure."

"Well." The teal-haired man asked, "aren't you going to do anything?"

She gazed upwards at the man's towering figure. "Why should I? Urahara has the kid right? I'm sure that sick bastard will think up something." At her words, the teal-haired one still didn't move. "Well go now, unless you want me to loose my temper."

The man stiffened and turned, spitting on the ground as he stormed out of the room.

* * *

"This is Abarai Renji of the 6th division. I request permission to enter."

Currently, Renji stood at the entrance to the hunter's headquarters. He was deeply troubled at his inability to think clearly upon learning Ichigo was in fact a vampire. Constantly over the past few hours he had told himself that it wasn't his fault. The child exhibited no signs. No aggression and no bloodlust. Whenever he thought of it that way he would gain a momentary glee, only to be removed instantly by his guilt for harming the innocent. No matter how much he wanted to deny it, that boy, despite his origins, had been the epitome of innocent.

He urged himself to not think about his guilt for the moment and began knocking on HQ's door. "This is Abarai Renji! It has been about ten minutes since I put in the call. Why hasn't anyone answere—"

The door fell off. Renji was shocked. "I didn't hit it that hard." Then panic began to flow over him as he entered the dark passageway. Maybe there had been a power outage? The lights were cut and he couldn't see his hand in front of him. "Is anyone here? Hellooo!"

One light flickered for a second illuminating the passage way. For that one moment Renji saw the mess of toppled carts and blood splattered amongst the bodies that were supported by the white walls. He covered his mouth in horror for fear of throwing up.

The light flickered again and he saw a blood-soaked figure fall to the ground at a hallway intersection. The figure saw him also and screamed, "Renji Run away! This thing is going to kill you! Run away!"

It was his captain Kuchiki Byakuya. The man who was far stronger than he. Renji was frozen in fear. Who, no What could harm someone as powerful as his superior? Byakuya's eyes widened considerably and Renji heard a loud tearing of flesh and the scream of his captain.

Renji ran towards his captain, sword drawn from the sheath of a dead man. "Captain! Just Wait. No. Hold on! I'm going to get you out of this somehow!"

Renji rounded the corner and stopped. His hands fell down to his side. His sword slipped through his fingers and out of his grasp.

Before him stood Urahara Kisuke, the general leader of the most powerful vampire alliance in Karakura. At his knee was Kurosaki Ichigo, the young vampire Renji had hurt accidentally earlier.

The child was being restrained by the mindful hand of Urahara Kisuke and it was the only thing preventing the bloodlust stricken child from eating Renji's captain. Urahara directed his gaze up at Renji for the second time that day. "If you hadn't caused him to be hurt so severely this would have been avoided for another few years. You did the complete opposite of what a Hunter should do, and as a result I need to feed this boy before his body dies on him.

Renji stared at the hungry boy. Finally he found the motivation to speak, "Ichigo! Listen! I know you're a good person. You have to stop this you have to…." Renji's voice dwindled down. Even an idiot could see it was having no effect. The child continued to squirm more wild than ever, and the restraining hand was having to work harder and harder to keep the boy in his place.

A whine erupted from the boy's lips and Byakuya shuddered. "Fine then, I'll accept responsibility for this, just don't harm my captain."

A sly smile crossed Urahara's mouth. "Sorry Abarai-kun, what Kurosaki-san needs is human blood, not that of another vampire."

Renji could feel time freeze. "What do you mean? I am a—"

"No" Urahara cut off. After last night you had been blooded. Slowly you will experience a slow and ever so painful transformation that will revolt yourself. That woman brought you to me, talking about your tactical skills and how far you had pushed her. She changed you, and then told me about how appetizing it was."

Renji sunk to his knees in disbelief. The orange-haired youth in front of him was whining loudly again, apparently loosing enough humanity to have lost the ability to speak normally.

Urahara wrapped his arms around the struggling boy, trying to contain him. He moved the orange-head over to the body of a dying man who gurgled in protest. The older vampire released his hold on his underling and without a second to waste, the boy pounced eagerly on the body.

Ichigo eagerly lapped at the blood. Eyes and body solely fixated on absorbing the substance that coated the man. His tongue worked its way up and down the dying figure until it was sucked dry. Eager for more he clung tightly to his meal biting down deep into his victim's neck. When no wound was created, the child's superior bent down to help him.

Urahara explained everything to Renji in a jovial voice. "You know Abarai-san, because Kurosaki-san is so young, he hasn't even grown the teeth necessary to do this properly, so until he does, he is going to be solely dependant on me. It is hundreds of times more painful for the victim. Did you know him Abarai-san?" A smile broke out over Urahara's lips. "Because it takes more than one go Kurosaki-san has to clamp down on the excess skin and pull and tear at it. Usually the skin doesn't even break and thus causes tons of bruising and immense pain until something finally spurts."

The man leaned in further. One hand scooped his fledgling into his coat arm while the other extended and the nail slit the man's throat. At the smell of more blood the youth became excited and thrashed violently until the man released him back to his meal.

Renji watched in horrific silence as one of his division was feverously sucked and bleed dry. Ichigo pulling and tearing at the cut with his fingers. Just as Renji had felt he'd seen enough Ichigo froze, his body stiff. Both he and his corpse fell to the ground, where the boy fell into a deep sleep.

Renji could not look away despite his disgust. Blood coated the lower half of Ichigo's face and soaked his clothing on the front-chest side. His hands were bloody and his fingers had bits of skin and shreds of bone embedded in them.

"It was nice to see you again Abarai-san. I'm glad you could help take care of this little problem." Without another word the man had scooped up his underling and disappeared into the night.

Renji snapped out of his shocked state what seemed like hours later. He knelt down by his captain and began to lift his body urging him into a separate room where he began wrapping the body in bandages.

His captain winced at his touch and didn't wake till hours later, with Renji still at his side. Byakuya painstakingly pushed himself upward and looked at his lieutenant. "You know. Even though it is dissatisfying, you can still remain a hunter."

Renji's bowed head show up at his captain's words. However, Byakuya continued, "As long as you can maintain your sanity the organization can treat this as a gift of sorts."

"How…" Renji murmured as Byakuya batted an eyebrow. "How can you say such a thing? Right now, I am turning into one of them and can't do a thing to stop it. When the time comes…" The red head's voice stuttered, "When the time comes, I am sure you are already aware, that you will kill me."

Byakuya nodded solemnly in the silence and the two sat quietly for a long period of time.

* * *

"Ichigo, wake up. There is someone that you need to meet." Isshin, contrary to the actions of most days, was carefully waking up his dreary son. The boy was asleep on an unkempt bed that was now soaked with blood from Ichigo's face and shirt.

The boy groaned lightly as he pressed himself deeper into the covers. He felt someone strong lift him out of bed and prop him up against the wall. This someone was Isshin who was quickly and quietly dressing the boy in cleaner cloths and wiping his blood crusted mouth.

"I know. The first time is always the worst and you feel completely groggy afterwards. When you get used to this it will gradually become easier." Isshin stepped back to admire his handiwork. His orange-haired son looked significantly better than he had before.

Ichigo was working his way out of his dreariness with ease and could now see and somewhat comprehend the world around him. He raised his blood-crusted hand and Isshin immediately began to take a rag and gently scrub it off, making sure to get underneath the fingernails in the process.

"Shit." Isshin quickly cursed himself. Why did that Hunter have to come after his son. Ichigo wouldn't have to go threw all this insanity if the Hunters weren't so damn arrogant.

Isshin finished and pulled his son to up to his. Taking great care to make sure his child didn't fall, he lead the boy out of the room. Catching him a couple of times, he managed to reach his destination.

Urahara was in view, talking to a man Isshin had never met before. He had shortly cut blond hair, large teeth and bored eyes.

Urahara turned towards the pair, "Ah! Isshin-san. Let me introduce you, this is Hirako Shinji. From today on, he will be in charge of helping your son."

Isshin was amazed at the fact that the man never seemed to loose his giddy smile, but was happy for all that he did. He let go of his son and let Urahara usher the tiered boy over to the new acquaintance.

"Hirako-kun, this is Kurosaki's son, Kurosaki Ichigo. He's the one I was telling you about a moment ago; the one who is awakening early."

"Ah." The blond seemed as bored as ever, "I got cha'." He casually gestured with his arm carelessly, "Whatever." Without another word he scooped up the orange-haired child and acted as a crutch for him to lean against. He directed the boy's feet towards the exit only to be halted by Urahara's voice.

"Hirako-kun, treat him kindly. I am sure I already explained, but I do not want another Nnoitra Jiruga on my hands. It is your job to make sure he doesn't break."

The blond turned around to his nagging boare. "I said I got cha'. There is no need to worry. Really now, Urahara, how long have you known me?"

Shading his eyes whilst holding his hat up with a lone hand, the leader responded, "Quite a while actually, my old friend."

Grinning madly Shinji turned and strutted out of the room, tie fluttering at his neck, and the boy supported by his hand.

Urahara stood for a moment, watching them wobble down the corrador of the ex-museum, before turning his attention to the woman lurking at the door.

"Why did you call me?" The bronze-bodied woman asked bluntly.

Urahara's voice hardened considerably, "You were the one who brought that Hunter here, correct?"

The woman seemed slightly intimidated, "Yes…Why?"

"I don't care what you do in your spare time, but next time, I ask that you keep watch over your toys more carefully. I don't want my children to trip over them…You understand what I am getting at right?"

It wasn't a question as much as it was a statement and the woman could sense that. "Loud and clear". She quickly exited the room in the direction from which she had come.

A voice sounded behind Urahara's back.

"You are just going to let her go? No punishment?"

The man clad in green turned round to view the eyes of his childhood friend. "Yoruichi, why would I punish her just for her demeanor. No one could have known that Kurosaki-san would have gotten hurt. It was just the ill fated luck of the draw." He smiled up at her.

"Still…"

* * *

Kuchiki Rukia awoke to the sound of her door bell ringing. She tiredly threw on some pants and proceeded to unlock the front door. She pulled at the metal handle and was shocked to see her older brother supported by Renji.

Her brother's arm was slung loosely around Renji's shoulders and his body mid process of sinking to the ground. Rukia immediately went to him, helping ameliorate the weight of her brother on Renji's shoulders. The two managed to drag him through the door together.

The girl broke into a run and rushed to a bed covered with boxes and knickknacks. She pushed them off with fervor and then rushed back to her brother's side, picking him up once more.

She motioned with her head to Renji and the two lifted her brother into the bed, where Rukia made every attempt to sooth his every ache and ailment. Staying by her brother's side, she directed her focus to Renji.

"Renji, how did this happen, no, 'what' happened?!"

The red-head looked off at an angle downcast. "There was a robbery at work. He was injured."

"Renji!" She yelled, "I am not a child! I'm not as young as I look! Tell me what is going on! No bullet nor normal robber could ever inflict this much damage! Besides, if it had been such an occurrence you would have brought him to a hospital, NOT here!" Her pout-y face did him in.

"I suppose I should tell you everything…How should I start…"He hesitated. "Kuchiki Rukia, sister of Kuchiki Byakuya; since before you arrived in his care, your brother has acted as part of an elite organization as a leader and commander. Rukia, he was a Hunter." He saw the look of disbelief that overflowed from her facial expression.

He sighed deeply. This was going to be harder than he initially thought.

* * *

The man in the defiled white hallway of the hunter's HQ fiddled with the wires on his gadget. Over the past hour he had replayed the footage on the video tapes, and increasingly began to like what he saw. He was lucky that he had paid an over-due visit to his old organization at such a great time.

He had seen the whole incident from start to end from his hiding place. Upon seeing Urahara Kisuke, the leader of the largest grouping of vampires break through HQ's defenses, he had immediately suppressed his presences and killed a random hunter who had passed by.

He had used the blood from his victim to smear on himself to make himself appear dead to the outside world, quickly followed by an injection to suppress his vital signs. He had completed all these tasks in a matter of seconds. His speed and power had once been unrivaled among the 13 protection squads.

From his propped up state he had watched everything. Urahara Kisuke had killed the guards, and entered the main lobby, killing all. Around his shoulder had hung the body of a young sleeping orange-haired child whose head was tucked snuggly in the collar of his coat.

With a single hand alone, the man had managed to fend off the forces of the 6th division that had begun to flood the lobby. The swords of many never even had the chance of touching him seeing as he avoided each one by a long shot. He darted from corner to corner, like a shadow, taking out as many as three at a time.

Aizen watched admiring the handy work of the elderly vampire. His speed, power, intellect, all surpassed that of the HQ's standards. Intelligence had been wrong. Numbers did not matter against this sort of man, no, monster. Aizen noted that Urahara seemed particularly interested in guarding the kid at his shoulder. Every hit that came too close was countered with a strike of unnecessary power.

Finally, the captain of the sector of HQ arrived. Kuchiki Byakuya. The man had put up a considerable fight, but to Urahara Kisuke, it was still just a slightly more advanced version of child's play. The captain was easily defeated within a mere matter of minutes. Still notable due to the others inability to hold more than a few seconds.

The captain dropped to the ground and the man clad in green had smashed the other's leg in with the sole of his foot. The captain, despite the pain, had gritted his teeth and refused to utter a sound of defeat. Urahara had then pulled him up and cut a large gash across his chest with his nails alone. The man had then fallen all bloodied into the intersection of a hallway.

Out of the corner of his eye, Aizen had seen the man's adjunct rush to his side only to be stunned by the scene before him. The child on Urahara's shoulder had apparently awoken by the smell of blood and had clambered down trying to get a meal out of the body.

The elder had restrained him, but later allowed indulgence to his desires on another man's dying body. That of a young third seat. Aizen had watched amused as the child had tried unsuccessfully to devour the man before him. The fledgling was young, very young to be unable to hunt for itself. Aizen guessed that it would need at least another year or two before it would grow fangs, talons, or gain abilities of any sort.

Aizen contemplated the idea that ran threw his traitorous head. At such a young age, to possess such killing intent, was indeed a rare attribute in a vampire so young. The child had probably never experienced something like this before. For Urahara to even be at the same location it must have been its first time.

Aizen mentally grinned at the idea. He could use and manipulate that child into following him. His ignorance of the outside world made him an easy target, which Aizen would not soon loose.

Now Aizen stood before the dead and drained body of the previous third seat replaying footage after he had ordered Ichimaru Gin to hack into the security system and stream the video surveillance live. Tousen was busy securing the area, and Gin left to his own devices.

Aizen was sure of it now. He could use this boy.

He motioned towards Szayel Aporro Granz, and the pink-haired man gave a head nod signaling that he was done collecting data. Gin and Tousen appeared from a passageway and followed their leader out of the Hunters HQ.

"Szayel, did you collect any useful data?"

The man turned, pink hair falling into place on his shoulders. "Yes Aizen-sama"

"Care to report it to us."

"From what I can gather, a pureblood was responsible for the attack on the third seat. From the salivary traces, I concluded that it was a newborn with a high probability of being the result of a forced awakening. From the marks and tears, it is very susceptive to the bloodlust." He took a breath and paused momentarily, "However, the other wounds were very precise. It was done by an expert. Possibly a vampire feeding its child."

"Ah." The brunette grunted slightly, having already know the information by seeing it. Seeking to gather more prudent information he inquired, "Szayel, you are a born vampire, correct? What would you say the appropriate age for awakening is?"

"It depends. Anywhere from 18 to 30 years. The younger they are the stronger they are. They are more susceptible to the bloodlust which significantly ups their chances of survival…Most occur in the 20's."

"And yours was?"

The pink-haired one looked confused, "around 24, why does it matter?"

"Nothing really, I was just trying to get a better hold on the situation…Hey…Szayel, do you think you could tell me the location of Urahara Kisuke's lair?" A grin tugged at Aizen Sousuke's cheek.

"Not right now. I was raised in a rural lair, I only visited the urban centers with my mother on a miniscule amount of occasions."

"But," the brunette responded, "You can find out, can't you?"

The pink haired one lowered his head. "Yes, Yes, I suppose I could. However, You would need to come with me. In order to pinpoint the location I would need to become a part of the void again."

"Do refresh my memory Szayel."

"The void is the lower level mental connection that ties vampires to their superiors. Purebloods are not as greatly tied as the turned are, but it is recently used for mass communication of feeling, or determining general location"

"So it is like telekinesis, how cliché?"

"Telekinesis would be higher level. This is lower level, almost on par with instinct. Anyways, without reconnection the correct catacomb sequence would be immensely difficult to locate."

"Ah. I see. Well, lets see if we can come up with a plan to reconnect you then, eh, Szayel Aporro Granz?"

"Yes." He bowed deeply. "Aizen-sama".

* * *

Kurosaki Ichigo woke up softly on a warm bed. He dully noted that there was a blond-haired man seated at the foot of his bed. When the boy finally swam to actual consciousness, he pushed himself to the upright position.

"Who are you?" Ichigo muttered.

"Hirako Shinji. I am the one who will be keeping watch over you from now on."

Ichigo propped himself up against the wall. "Watching me? From now on? What do you mean?"

You may not have noticed it yet, but you are beginning to awaken. Something dangerous from the outside world came into contact with you and as a result your instincts have begun to awaken into a true vampire. You will be kept in my sectional until Urahara has given his say so."

The boy protested. "What about my family!? Yuzu and Karin? Will I get to see them?"

"You will be able to see your family on occasions, however, we will have to be careful around Yuzu." The blond let out a sigh. This was becoming more complicated by the minute, and he had no intention of telling the whole story.

"What do you mean?"

"You already know that your twin sisters were born from your father, a vampire, and another woman after your mother died, a human. Because they were born from a mix and are both twins, in a sense, their souls are divided." Shinji took in another deep breath before continuing, "Karin inherited predominantly from your father's side, with some humanistic qualities. However, Yuzu is the opposite. She is predominantly human with attributes of a vampire. How else would your father be able to bring someone so young over to our district during daylight hours?"

"I already know that," the boy protested. "I know that Yuzu is practically a human, but she is still my sister. I don't hold that technicality against her!"

The blond responded angrily, "That's not what I implied' you fool!" Obviously the assuming had offended him. "With your awakening, you will have a penchant for human blood! It would be dangerous to have you anywhere near her until you've learned to maintain control of yourself!"

Ichigo rose to his feet, angry. "I would never hurt Yuzu!"

The man in front of him responded similarly, "Not on purpose! I know that! But like you were last night! I bet you don't even remember what happened!"

"Last night!" The boy yelled. "I didn't do anything last ni—" His voice was cut off as the memories of his kill came flooding back to the surface of his mind. He was immediately sickened and jabbed his fingers over his throat trying to throw up the contents of his stomach.

The blond just watched silently for a while. "You're not going to do anything you know? It is already in you. In fact, after being exposed to that much sunlight at the height of the day, it is probably the reason you are still alive." He paused. "Why are you so disgusted anyways, you drink it in small amounts anyways. It is nothing more than that!"

"You're wrong!" the boy shot back, staring him coldly in the face. "There is a difference between taking a life forcefully and a donation!" He leaned back against a wall, having made his point.

"Ah." Shinji smiled. "I think I'm going to like this kid."

* * *

Ulquiorra Shiffer quietly entered the damp and musky room, making sure to stop at the foot of the man occupying it.

"Grimmjaw, I heard that your sister in blood was called in by Urahara Kisuske."

The teal-haired man straightened awkwardly. "What's it to you?"

The green-eyed man retorted passive aggressively, "I am your superior. Tell me."

The blue-eyed one's face darkened with seriousness, "Why should I? You will probably just go tell your precious little 'Aizen-sama'. Besides, I could beat you, here and now if you wanted."

With strength not natural to one of his structure the thin green-eyed monster grabbed the other in a choke-hold slamming him back into a wall with amazing speed. "Don't think that I would come all this way to a disgusting pit like this if it were something idle. Now tell me, What happened?!"

The blue-haired man knocked the other off of him and maneuvered to a location less susceptible to attack. "Why the fuck would your 'Aizen-sama' even give a damn. Besides he is a human, completely weak—" Grimmjaw's voice died down abruptly. "No way…"

Ulquiorra responded indiferently, "I see you've noticed."

"When…" the teal-haired one muttered, "When did Szayel reconnect to the void?!"

The voice of a brunette that Grimmjaw knew all too well answered him coldly. "For about five hours now."

Grimmjaw's eyes widened greatly with surprise. "Aizen!"

The named brunette stepped forward into view, holding up his hand in greeting. "You look well Grimmjaw." He paused to observe Grimmjaw's frozen state. "There is something that I want you to do."

* * *

**Author's note, this is quite possibly a oneshot. I spent so much time looking for it that I completely forgot what was going to happen. I actually had to re-read it because I forgot what it was about. Anyways, I liked it, and was quite amazed at myself.**

**And as always, REVIEW, review, REVIEW!!!! Yeah! **

**Even if you have nothing to say. Just tell me if you liked it, or if you hated it! =)**


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